If there's one thing we've learned about the solarcoaster, it’s this: solar doesn’t fold. And, it’s a heck of a ride.

Despite policy shifts, tariff swings, and global supply chain disruption (and a little global pandemic), the industry keeps building. It keeps adapting. And even in the face of the latest legislation–with shorter tax credit phase-downs and tighter sourcing requirements–I’m still incredibly bullish on the fundamentals. Energy demand is rising. Grid pressures are real. Every 5 word on news and techno-newsletters is “AI” pushing the appetite for data centers ad nauseum. And renewables, especially solar, are still the fastest, cheapest, most scalable answer.

But if we’re being honest, we’re entering a new chapter. The days of relying on “generous” credits and broad tailwinds to paper over operational gaps are winding down. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OB3A”) has accelerated the sunset of 45Y and 45E. The new Executive Order is tightening the rules on what qualifies as “American clean energy.” And with margins tightening, labor in short supply, and investors asking sharper questions, one thing is becoming clear:

The industry must evolve — not just in how we build solar assets, but in how we manage and operate them.

More Megawatts, More Problems… Right? 

In conversation after conversation–from EPCs to O&M shops to asset managers–we’re hearing the same thing: “We’re scaling. But we can’t keep adding people to stay on top of things.”

That’s not a complaint. It’s a reality. Headcount doesn’t scale linearly. Monitoring teams are staring at thousands of alerts across hundreds of sites. Teams are making best guesses on where to roll trucks and simultaneously selling, educating, and negotiating with customers / off-takers. And operations leaders are left piecing together reports across 5, 6, 7+ platforms, wondering why production dipped 3% last quarter.

Most companies have the data. (Albeit the data is scattered.) And asset management and O&M professionals lack the context. Folks operating in functional silos and working off institutional knowledge. Teams and organizations are feeling this challenge:

• “my team is working in the business, not on the business”

• “We work off spreadsheets and file shares and we’re trying to build a data warehouse, but we’re also trying to hire a data manager”

This whole time, coordinators and managers on the frontlines are exasperated and feel like they’re always playing catchup–always behind. Most folks get burned out and leave.

Context Is the Game-Changer

The real opportunity isn’t in adding more dashboards or alerts–it’s in stitching together the right context to make decisions.

From our calls with folks like asset owners who see opportunity in this new world and acquiring assets to mature O&M providers, the need was obvious: a better way to understand what matters–not just what’s wrong.

Imagine being able to:

• See not just the alert, but which devices, on which system, with which component, tied to which contractor–and the expected production in one view, not multiplied against however many systems and sites.

• Prioritize that ticket not just by urgency, but by financial impact, historical trends, and service-level commitments.

• Make decisions quickly, confidently, and backed by real data from multiple systems stitched together.

That’s what the next generation of asset management looks like. This isn’t theoretical, and it’s not a question of if… Heck, if not even a question of when. The time is now. 

This Is About Evolution, Not Disruption

Evolution does not mean you have to stop and drop everything, nor does it mean you have to rip-and-replace. Evolution in the new world is really about unifying data and context across functional silos. This is what ultimately creates intelligence, and also, about prioritzing what’s important including what systems are important. There are a mountain of tools available to teams today. They each serve their functional purpose much like an arm vs. a leg on the human body. After all, I don’t think you should rip and replace your arm with another leg just because you want to run faster. 

Each system has a job to do. But intelligence for an organization is the brain. It enabled the orchestration and prioritization and enable each function to to do their jobs to the best of their abilities, but also most importantly, it maximizes the outcomes for the enterprise. Today’s operations require a smarter layer on top–one that helps teams prioritize, contextualize, and act.

In a world where solar tax credits are being phased down and margins are under pressure, the difference between profitable growth and missed targets comes down to operational intelligence. Why? Because it’s not just uptime, but smart uptime. Not just data, but actionable insight. Not just adding more people to solve problems, but enabling our people to do more, faster, and more effectively. Enable people to do their creative and strategic best, not the manual and mundane.

RE+ is around the corner (come see us at the Innovation Hall, by the way!). Last year, people told us, “Our tools give us all the data, but we still don’t know where to focus.”

That’s the gap. And that’s what we’re solving.That’s where the industry is evolving to. Though, don’t think we all expected the evolution to get a violent shove by the legislation we’ve just seen pass.

AI That Knows the Business

Let’s be clear — we’re not chasing AI for AI’s sake. We’re using it to do things solar teams actually need: 

• Have a single-pane view of your systems to cut through the manual waste.

• Provide automated, seamless reporting leveraging both internal and external data sources.

• Help asset management and O&M teams do more with the same team–and, oh by the way, without the need to constantly level up (or down). Make teams more effective.

• (There’s more coming between prioritizing and cutting through the alert noise… just ask.)

As one O&M leader put it: “I don’t need AI to automate my team away. I need it to help my team show up prepared, with context.”

Exactly.

The Future Is Still Bright, If We Run Our Teams and Portfolios Smarter

Despite the noise in the headlines, this industry is strong. We’ve weathered storms before. But to keep growing–to scale profitably, sustainably, and intelligently–we have to rethink how we operate.

The clean energy transition can’t stall out because we have a jumble of tools and people, or because we missed an inverter failure hiding in a pile of low-priority alerts or roll a truck that takes months (or years) to payback.

The future of solar will be shaped not just by how we build assets, but by how well we run them. It’s time we invest in the tools and intelligence to reshape our alleviate processes to do just that.

If you're feeling this shift too, we’d love to show you how LCOE.ai is helping solar companies prioritize what matters…and evolve toward smarter, more sustainable growth.

Let’s talk!